Smokers returning from a neighboring country will no longer have to limit themselves to one cartridge. To comply with European law, France had to remove the limit of 200 cigarettes that a traveler was authorized to bring back from another European Union (EU) country, according to a decree published Friday March 29 in Official newspaper.
“We no longer rely at all on volume and cartridge logic”, said the Minister Delegate in charge of public accounts, Thomas Cazenave, during a press briefing. “ Customs officers now have the possibility of relying on a range of clues, to seize and sanction those for whom there is a presumption of trade and therefore of illegal trade. »
Until now, adult individuals traveling to an EU country were allowed to bring back 200 cigarettes (i.e. one carton), 50 cigars, 250 grams of smoking tobacco and 100 cigarillos.
No threshold set
But noting that European regulations set personal consumption at higher thresholds, an individual, himself a tobacco consumer, contacted the Council of State. At the end of September, the body ordered the government to bring French law into line with EU law, either by refraining from setting thresholds or by setting thresholds consistent with European regulations. European regulations set personal consumption at 800 cigarettes (four cartridges), 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars and one kilo of smoking tobacco. In the decree, which comes into force on Friday, the government has chosen not to set a threshold.
Today, “if customs found that a person was transporting a single cartridge, but with the name of the recipient and the delivery address to whom it should be made, that would fall under the decree”specified the minister, praising a regulatory framework ” more efficient “. “We are moving from a logic of quantity to a logic of purpose: whatever the threshold, if it is for resale, it is not good”summarized the ministerial services.
The decree thus strengthens the criteria allowing customs officers to assess whether the person transporting cigarettes has purchased them. “for its own needs”. Will be taken into account in particular “the destination of the holder when it differs from his usual place of residence”, “the economic activity of the holder” or the location of the products in the vehicle. Bercy is also carrying out a project to harmonize tobacco taxation at European level, according to the minister.